NCIS: Sydney arrived on CBS in the 2023 TV schedule at a time when new scripted options were hard to find due to the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strike. With both strikes now resolved, NCIS and NCIS: Hawai'i can get back to work for their new season premiere dates in the new year, and Sydney leading lady Olivia Swann already has some great crossover ideas that I'd love to see happen.
Olivia Swann plays NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey on NCIS: Sydney, making Mackey one of the American characters on the Australia-set show, although the actress herself is British. The new show kicked off in a way that proved it can stand on its own without the rest of the franchise, but some ties between the series would certainly be fun for fans, if you ask me. Speaking with ET, Swann pitched two ideas:
I'd love to have Jessica Knight from NCIS come play around with us. I wouldn't mind going to Hawaii. I will take that. If you send me because I will happily go.
Jessica Knight is portrayed by Katrina Law, who is a series regular on the original NCIS. Olivia Swann also suggested the kind of crossover that would involve a trip to the Aloha State, but there's no reason she can't theoretically have both! Law has crossed over to Hawai'i twice already after previously filming Hawaii Five-0 there, and the three NCIS shows of the 2022-2023 TV schedule – which included NCIS: Los Angeles alongside the original and Hawai'i – joined together for an exciting three-parter. It could happen for Swann!
But is it likely to happen? Maybe not at this point, although Sydney showrunner Morgan O'Neill addressed the "Easter egg" ties to the other NCIS shows to expect in the new series. A mini Hawaii Five-0 crossover with Alex O’Loughlin reprising his role as Steve McGarrett hasn't been ruled out, despite that show ending back in 2020. Five-0 became part of the NCIS universe on CBS after an early crossover with NCIS: LA. Former LA star Eric Christian Olsen has suggested that his character would love Australia, but a comment on social media is a far cry from a crossover happening!
Personally, I wouldn't count on seeing Jessica Knight or Marty Deeks on NCIS: Sydney in the near future, but the sky seems to more or less be the limit with this franchise. If there is a shot of seeing characters from the newest show mixing it up with the established characters from the other two, I'd say that it would be Olivia Swann or one of her co-stars appearing on NCIS or Hawai'i, as both shows can finally get to work on their new seasons. Even if there's no time in Sydney's first season to craft a crossover, how about a cameo on one of the other shows?
For now, we can only wait and see if Olivia Swann's hopes will be realized with Katrina Law and/or NCIS: Hawai'i. New episodes of NCIS: Sydney will continue airing on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, with NCIS and Hawai'i finally returning to primetime in the 2024 TV schedule on February 12. You can also find all three shows streaming with a Paramount+ subscription now.
